Saint Thomas
"The Incredulity of St Thomas" by Caravaggio
Apostle
Died	c. 72, near Madras, India
Venerated in	Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, Anglican Church, Lutheran Church, some Protestant Churches
Feast	Roman Catholic: 3 July (formerly 21 December) Coptic Orthodox: 26 Pashons Eastern Orthodox: Thomas Sunday (Sunday after Pascha), 6 October, and 30 June (Synaxis of the Apostles) The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio. ... For other uses, see Caravaggio (disambiguation). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      For... Madras refers to: the Indian city of Chennai, formerly known as Madras, the former Indian state, now known as Tamil Nadu (Plural of Madra): Ancient people of Iranian affinites, who lived in northwest Panjab in the Uttarapatha division of ancient India. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Eastern Christianity. ... The Anglican Communion is a world-wide organisation of Anglican Churches. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organising a liturgical year on the level of days by associating each day with one or more saints, and referring to the day as that saints day. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Christ - Coptic Art Coptic Orthodox Christianity is the indigenous form of Christianity that, according to tradition, the apostle Mark established in Egypt in the middle of the 1st century AD (approximately AD 60). ... 25 Pashons - Coptic calendar - 27 Pashons All fixed commemorations below are observed on 26 Pashons by the Coptic Orthodox Church Thomas the Apostle (72 A.D.) Coptic Synexarion Categories: | ... Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ... Russian Icon of the Resurrection (16th century). ... This article is about the Christian festival. ... is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Icon of the Synaxis of the Theotokos (Pskov, 17th century). ...
Attributes	The Twin, placing his finger in the side of Christ, spear (means of martyrdom), square (his profession, a builder)
Patronage	Architects, India, and others, see [1]
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Saint Thomas the Apostle, Judas Thomas or Didymus, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels and Acts list this "twin" (Te'oma means twin in Aramaic, as does Didymus in Greek) among the apostles (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15). Saint symbology was important to people who couldnt read because they can figure out what symbols mean. ... For other uses, see Twin (disambiguation). ... Icon of Christ in a Greek Orthodox church This page is about the title, office or what is known in Christian theology as the Divine Person. ... Spears were one of the most common personal weapons from the late Bronze Age until the advent of firearms. ... Historically, a martyr is a person who dies for his or her religious faith. ... In carpentry, a square or set square is a guide for establishing right angles (ninety-degree angles), usually made of metal and in the shape of a right triangle. ... Saint Quentin is the patron saint of locksmiths and is also invoked against coughs and sneezes. ... for building and structual design see; Architect Architects are a metal band from Brighton in southern England. ... Image File history File links Gloriole. ... Image File history File links Portal. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      For... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke are so similar that they are called the synoptic gospels (from Greek, συν, syn, together, and οψις, opsis, seeing). ... For the literature genre, see Acts of the Apostles (genre). ... Aramaic is a group of Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. ...

Thomas in the Gospel of John

Andrea del Verrocchio's sculpture showing the incredulity of St. Thomas.

Thomas appears in a few passages in the Gospel of John. In John 11:16, when Lazarus has just died, the disciples are resisting Jesus' decision to return to Judea, where the Jews had previously tried to stone Jesus. Jesus is determined, and Thomas says bravely: "Let us also go, that we might die with him" (NIV). Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (580x1014, 144 KB) Andrea del Verrocchios Christ and St. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (580x1014, 144 KB) Andrea del Verrocchios Christ and St. ... Madonna with Sts John the Baptist and Donatus (1475-83), Cathedral of Pistoia. ... For other uses, see Gospel of John (disambiguation). ... Resurrection of Lazarus by Juan de Flandes, around 1500 For other uses, see Lazarus (disambiguation). ... The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Christian Bible which is the most popular of the modern translations of the Bible made in the twentieth century. ...

He also speaks at The Last Supper in John 14:5. Jesus assures his disciples that they know where he is going, but Thomas protests that they don't know at all. Jesus replies to this and to Philip's requests with a detailed exposition of his relationship to God the Father. The Last Supper was the last meal Jesus shared with his apostles before his death. ...

In Thomas' best known appearance in the New Testament, John 20:24-29, he doubts the resurrection of Jesus and demands to touch Jesus' wounds before being convinced. Caravaggio's painting, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (illustration above), depicts this scene. This story is the origin of the term Doubting Thomas. After seeing Jesus alive (the Bible never states whether Thomas actually touched Christ's wounds), Thomas professed his faith in Jesus, exclaiming "My Lord and my God!"; on this account he is also called Thomas the Believer.^[1] A diagram of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre based on a german documentary, claimed to be the site of Calvary and the Tomb of Jesus. ... Flag of Georgia, a variant of the Jerusalem cross representing the five Holy Wounds The Five Holy Wounds or Five Sacred Wounds of Christ were the five piercing wounds inflicted upon Jesus during his crucifixion. ... For other uses, see Caravaggio (disambiguation). ... The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio. ...

Name and Identity

There is disagreement and uncertainty as to the identity of Saint Thomas. One recent theory is presented in the book The Jesus Family Tomb. The authors, Simcha Jacobovic and Pellegrino, identify him with two of those who were interred in the Talpiot Tomb, "Yehuda son of Yeshua." Cover of The Jesus Family Tomb. ... An image of the chevron-adorned entrance to the Talpiot Tomb, as it was unearthed in 1980. ...

Twin and its Renditions

• The Greek Didymus: in three of these passages (John 11:16; 20:24; and 21:2), Thomas is more specifically identified as "Thomas, also called the Twin (Didymus)".
• The Aramaic Tau'ma: the name "Thomas" itself comes from the Aramaic word for twin: T'oma (תאומא). Thus the name convention Didymus Thomas thrice repeated in the Gospel of John is in fact a tautology that omits the Twin's actual name.
• 'Didymus' or 'Didymos' is also the Greek name of the constellation Gemini, which some scholars believe to be associated with the Thomas, character in the Bible.

Aramaic is a Semitic language with a four-thousand year history. ... In rhetoric, a tautology is an unnecessary (and usually unintentional) repetition of meaning, often utilising words from different languages. ... Gemini (IPA: , Latin: , symbol , ) is one of the constellations of the zodiac known as the twins. It is part of the winter sky, lying between Taurus to the west and the dim Cancer to the east, with Auriga and the near-invisible Lynx to the north and Monoceros and Canis...

Other Names

The Nag Hammadi "sayings" Gospel of Thomas begins: "These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded." Syrian tradition also states that the apostle's full name was Judas Thomas, or Jude Thomas. Some have seen in the Acts of Thomas (written in east Syria in the early 3rd century, or perhaps as early as the first half of the 2nd century) an identification of Saint Thomas with the apostle Judas son of James, better known in English as Jude. However, the first sentence of the Acts follows the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles in distinguishing the apostle Thomas and the apostle Judas son of James. Few texts identify Thomas' other twin, though in the Book of Thomas the Contender, part of the Nag Hammadi library, it is said to be Jesus himself: "Now, since it has been said that you are my twin and true companion, examine yourself…"^[2] The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. ... The Gospel of Thomas (full name The Gospel According to Thomas (in Coptic, p. ... The early 3rd century text called Acts of Thomas is arguably the most Gnostic of the New Testament apocrypha, portraying Christ as the Heavenly Redeemer, independent of and beyond creation, who can free souls from the darkness of the world. ... For other uses, see Saint Jude (disambiguation). ... The Book of Thomas the Contender, also known more simply as the Book of Thomas (though this must not be confused with the quite different Gospel of Thomas), is one of the books of the New Testament apocrypha. ... The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. ...

St. Thomas depicted in stone, St. Thomas Roman Catholic Church, Hyde Park, Chicago.

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (763x949, 379 KB) St. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (763x949, 379 KB) St. ... This article is about the Chicago community area. ... For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation). ...

Veneration as a saint

Thomas is revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. For the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic Churches and the Coptic Orthodox Church he is remembered each year on Saint Thomas Sunday, which falls on the Sunday after Easter. In addition, the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches celebrate his feast day on October 6 (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, October 6 currently falls on October 19 of the modern Gregorian Calendar). He is also commemorated in common with all of the other apostles on July 30 (August 13), in a feast called the Synaxis of the Holy Apostles. He is also associated with the "Arabian" (or "Arapet") Icon of the Theotokos (Mother of God), which is commemorated on September 6 (September 19). Saints redirects here. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ... The term Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the churches of Eastern Christian traditions that keeps the faith of only the first three ecumenical councils of the undivided Church - the councils of Nicea, Constantinople and Ephesus. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Athanasius · Augustine · Constantine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Calvin · Luther · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      The... Christ - Coptic Art Coptic Orthodox Christianity is the indigenous form of Christianity that, according to tradition, the apostle Mark established in Egypt in the middle of the 1st century AD (approximately AD 60). ... Russian Icon of the Resurrection (16th century). ... The domes of an Ukrainian Catholic parish in Simpson, Pennsylvania This article refers to Eastern Churches in full communion with the See of Rome. ... The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organising a liturgical year on the level of days by associating each day with a saint, and referring to the day as the saints day of that saint. ... is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Julian calendar was a reform of the Roman calendar which was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and came into force in 45 BC (709 ab urbe condita). ... is the 292nd day of the year (293rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the calendar of religious holidays and periods, see liturgical year. ... is the 211th day of the year (212th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Icon of the Synaxis of the Theotokos (Pskov, 17th century). ... This article is about the religious artifacts. ... Theotokos of Kazan Theotokos (Greek: , translit. ... is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Roman Catholic and Anglican calendars honour him on July 3, the day on which his relics are believed to have been translated from Mylapore, a place along the coast of the Marina Beach, Chennai in India to the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia. is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Relics can be: Relics: the remains of saints (usually bones), honored in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. ... Depiction of St. ... , Mylapore is one of the oldest areas within Chennai (formerly Madras), the capital of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. ... Madras redirects here. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Mesopotamia was a cradle of civilization geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq. ...

Later History

Just as Saints Peter and Paul are said to have brought the fledgling Christianity to Greece and Rome, Saint Mark brought it to Egypt, Saint John to Syria and Asia Minor, Thomas is often said to have taken it eastwards as far as India. Saint Thomas is said to have been the first Catholicos of the East. St Peter redirects here. ... Paul of Tarsus (b. ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... Mark the Evangelist (1st century) is traditionally believed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark, drawing much of his material from Peter. ... John the Apostle (Greek Ιωάννης, see names of John) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. ... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion of Turkey. ... This article describes different viewpoints about the history and tradition associated with the ecclesiastical position called Catholicos of the East, a title used by Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches to denote the head of a Church or a dignitary of the highest order. ...

Thomas and the Assumption of Mary

St. Thomas receiving the Virgin Mary's girdle from heaven.

Main article: Dormition of the Theotokos

According to The Passing of Mary, a text attributed to Joseph of Arimathaea, Thomas was the only witness of the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The other apostles were miraculously transported to Jerusalem to witness her death. Thomas was left in India, but after her burial he was transported to her tomb, where he witnessed her bodily assumption into heaven, from which she dropped her girdle. In an inversion of the story of Thomas' doubts, the other apostles are skeptical of Thomas' story until they see the empty tomb and the girdle.^[3] Thomas' receipt of the girdle is commonly depicted in medieval and pre-Tridentine Renaissance art. Image File history File links Assumptiongirdle. ... Image File history File links Assumptiongirdle. ... Dormition of the Virgin redirects here. ... Joseph of Arimathea, according to the Gospels, was the man who donated his own prepared tomb for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. ... This article is about the theological concept. ... Youths boxing in a Minoan fresco on the Greek island of Santorini The word girdle originally meant a belt (or metaphorically speaking, something which confines or encloses, as in Tolkiens Girdle of Melian). ... The Council of Trent is the Nineteenth Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. ...

Thomas and Syria

"Judas, who is also called Thomas" (Eusebius, H.E. 13.12) has a role in the legend of king Abgar of Edessa (Urfa), for having sent Thaddaeus to preach in Edessa after the Ascension (Eusebius, Historia ecclesiae 1.13; III.1; Ephrem the Syrian also recounts this legend.) In the 4th century the martyrium erected over his burial place brought pilgrims to Edessa. In the 380s, Egeria described her visit in a letter she sent to her community of nuns at home (Itineraria Egeriae): Tenth_century icon of Abgar with the mandylion, the image of Christ Abgar V or Abgarus V of Edessa (born between 4 BC - AD 7 and reigned AD 13 -50) is a historical ruler of the kingdom of Osroene, holding his capital at Edessa. ... The heritage of Roman Edessa survives today in these columns at the site of Urfa Castle, dominating the skyline of the modern city of Şanlı Urfa. ... Thaddeus was one of the Seventy Apostles of Christ, not to be confused with Thaddeus of the Twelve Apostles. ... Ephrem the Syrian (Syriac: , ;Greek: ; Latin: Ephraem Syrus; 306–373) was a deacon, prolific Syriac language hymn writer and theologian of the 4th century. ... The name Egeria may refer to— in Roman mythology, the wife of Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome. ...

"we arrived at Edessa in the Name of Christ our God, and, on our arrival, we straightway repaired to the church and memorial of saint Thomas. There, according to custom, prayers were made and the other things that were customary in the holy places were done; we read also some things concerning saint Thomas himself. The church there is very great, very beautiful and of new construction, well worthy to be the house of God, and as there was much that I desired to see, it was necessary for me to make a three days' stay there."

Historical References to St. Thomas

Ancient writers used the designation "India" for all countries south and east of the Roman Empire's frontiers. India included Ethiopia, Arabia Felix, Edessa in Syria (in the Latin version of the Syriac Diatessaron), Arachosia and Gandhara (Afghanistan and Pakistan), and many countries up to the China Sea.^[4] In the Acts of Thomas, the original key text to identify St. Thomas with India (which all other India references follow), historians agree that the term India refers to Parthia (Persia) and Gandhara (Western India now Pakistan). ^[5]

There are many early Christian writings, which belong to centuries immediately following the first Ecumenical Council of 325 exist about St.Thomas mission.^[6] Saint Thomas or St. ...

• The Acts of Judas Thomas: 2nd/3rd century (c. 180-230) ^[7] Gist of the testimony: The Apostles cast lots as to where they should go, and to Thomas, twin brother of Jesus, fell India. Thomas was taken to king Gondophares as an architect and carpenter by Habban. The journey to India is described in detail.After a long residence in the court he ordained leaders for the Church, and left in a chariot for the kingdom of Mazdei. There, after performing many miracles, he dies a martyr.

• Clement of Alexandria: 3rd century (d.c. 235); Church represented: Alexandrian/Greek Biographical Note : Greek Theologian, b. Athens, 150. ^[6] Clement makes a passing reference to St. Thomas’ Apostolate in Parthia. This agrees with the testimony which Eusebius records about Pantaenus visit to India.^[6]

• Doctrine of the Apostles: 3rd Century; Church represented: Syrian ^[8] “After the death of the Apostles there were Guides and Rulers in the Churches…..They again at their deaths also committed and delivered to their disciples after them everything which they had received from the Apostles;…(also what) Judas Thomas (had written) from India”.

“India and all its own countries, and those bordering on it, even to the farther sea, received the Apostle’s hand of Priesthood from Judas Thomas, who was Guide and Ruler in the Church which he built and ministered there”. In what follows “the whole Persia of the Assyrians and Medes, and of the countries round about Babylon…. even to the borders of the Indians and even to the country of Gog and Magog” are said to have received the Apostles’ Hand of Priesthood from Aggaeus the disciple of Addaeus ^[9]

• Origen Century : 3rd century (185-254?), quoted in Eusebius; Church represented: Alexandrian/ Greek Biographical. Christian Philosopher, b-Egypt, Origen taught with great acclaim in Alexandria and then in Caesarea. ^[10] He is the first known writer to record the casting of lots by the Apostles. Origen original work has been lost; but his statement about Parthia falling to Thomas has been preserved by Eusebius. “Origen, in the third chapter of his Commentary on Genesis, says that, according to tradition, Thomas’s allotted field of labour was Parthia”.^[11]

• Eusebius of Caesarea: 4th century (d. 340); Church Represented: Alexandrian/Greek Biographical ^[12] Quoting Origen, Eusebius says: “When the holy Apostles and disciples of our Saviour were scattered over all the world, Thomas, so the tradition has it, obtained as his portion Parthia….” ^[13]

• Ephrem: 4th century; Church Represented: Syrian Biographical ^[14] Many devotional hymns composed by St. Ephraem, bear witness to the Edessan Church’s strong conviction concerning St. Thomas’s Indian Apostolate. There the devil speaks of St. Thomas as “the Apostle I slew in India”. Also “The merchant brought the bones” to Edessa.

In another hymn apostrophising St. Thomas we read of “The bones the merchant hath brought”. “In his several journeyings to India, And thence on his return, All riches, which there he found, Dirt in his eyes he did repute when to thy sacred bones compared”. In yet another hymn Ephrem speaks of the mission of Thomas “The earth darkened with sacrifices’ fumes to illuminate”. “A land of people dark fell to thy lot”, “a tainted land Thomas has purified”; “India’s dark night” was “flooded with light” by Thomas. ^[15]

• Gregory of Nazianzus: 4th century(d. 389); Church Represented: Alexandrian. Biographical Note: Gregory of Nazianzus was born A.D. 330, consecrated a bishop by his friend St. Basil in 372 his father, the Bishop of Nazianzus induced him to share his charge. In 379 the people of Constantinople called him to be their bishop. By the Orthodox Church he is emphatically called “the Theologian’.^[16] “What? were not the Apostles strangers amidst the many nations and countries over which they spread themselves?…Peter indeed may have belonged to Judea; but what had Paul in common with the gentiles, Luke with Achaia, Andrew with Epirus, John with Ephesus, Thomas with India, Mark with Italy?” ^[17]

• Ambrose of Milan: 4th century (d. 397); Church Represented: Western. Biographical Note: St. Ambrose was thoroughly acquainted with the Greek and Latin Classics, and had a good deal of information on India and Indians. He speaks of the Gymnosophists of India, the Indian Ocean, the river Ganges etc., a number of times. ^[18] “This admitted of the Apostles being sent without delay according to the saying of our Lord Jesus… Even those Kingdoms which were shut out by rugged mountains became accessible to them, as India to Thomas, Persia to Mathew..” ^[19]

• St. Jerome (342- 420). St. Jerome's testimony : “He (Christ) dwelt in all places: with Thomas in India, Peter at Rome, with Paul in Illyricum.” ^[6]

• St. Gaudentius( Bishop of Brescia, before 427). St. Gaudentius' testimony: “John at Sebastena, Thomas among the Indians, Andrew and Luke at the city of Patras are found to have closed their careers.” ^[6]

• St. Paulinus of Nola (d. 431). St. Paulinus' testimony :“Parthia receives Mathew, India Thomas, Libya Thaddeus, and Phrygia Philip”.^[6]

• St. Gregory of Tours (d. 594) St. Gregory's testimony: “Thomas the Apostle, according to the narrative of his martyrdom is stated to have suffered in India. His holy remains (corpus), after a long interval of time, were removed to the city of Edessa in Syria and there interred. In that part of India where they first rested, stand a monastery and a church of striking dimensions, elaborately adorned and designed. This Theodore, who had been to the place, narrated to us.’ ^[6]

• St. Isidore of Seville in Spain (d. c. 630). St. Isidore's testimony: “This Thomas preached the Gospel of Christ to the Parthians, the Medes, the Persians, the Hyrcanians and the Bactrians, and to the Indians of the Oriental region and penetrating the innermost regions and sealing his preaching by his passion he died transfixed with a lance at Calamina,a city of India, and there was buried with honour”. ^[6]

• St. Bede the Venerable (c. 673-735).St. Bede's testimony : “Peter receives Rome, Andrew Achaia; James Spain; Thomas India; John Asia" ^[6]

Gondophares (Parthian: Vindapharna, lit. ... Clement is an adjective for clemency, and also the name of a number of notable figures: Saint Clement of Alexandria Saint Clement of Ohrid Any of several popes named Clement. ... Eusebius is the name of several significant historical people: Pope Eusebius - Pope in AD 309 - 310. ... Saint Pantaenus (d. ... Eusebius is the name of several significant historical people: Pope Eusebius - Pope in AD 309 - 310. ... Origen Origen (Greek: ÅŒrigénÄ“s, 185–ca. ... Origen Origen (Greek: ÅŒrigénÄ“s, 185–ca. ... Eusebius is the name of several significant historical people: Pope Eusebius - Pope in AD 309 - 310. ... Origen Origen (Greek: ÅŒrigénÄ“s, 185–ca. ... Eusebius is the name of several significant historical people: Pope Eusebius - Pope in AD 309 - 310. ... Ephrem the Syrian (Syriac: , ; Greek: ; Latin: Ephraem Syrus; ca. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (329 - January 25, 389), also known as Saint Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen was a 4th century Christian bishop of Constantinople. ... To consecrate an inanimate object is to dedicate it in a ritual to a special purpose, usually religious. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      This article... Basil (ca. ... This article is about the city before the Fall of Constantinople (1453). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Eastern Christianity. ... Saint Ambrose, Latin Sanctus Ambrosius, Italian SantAmbrogio (circa 340 - April 4, 397), bishop of Milan, was one of the most eminent fathers of the Christian church in the 4th century. ... For other uses see: Jerome (disambiguation) Jerome (about 340 - September 30, 420), (full name Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus) is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. ... Saint Gaudentius was Bishop of Brescia from 387 until 410; he was the successor of the writer on heresies, Saint Philastrius. ... Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, St. ... Saint Gregory of Tours (c. ... Saint Isidore of Seville (Spanish: or , Latin: ) (c. ... Bede, commonly known as the Venerable Bede, (c. ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ...

Thomas and India

Part of a series on Christianity in India
Background
Christianity Malankara Church Syrian Malabar Nasrani Saint Thomas Christians Holy Apostolic Throne of St. Thomas Malankara Metropolitans Knanaya Distribution of Christian population in different Indian states [1] Christianity is Indias third-largest religion, following Hinduism and Islam. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... The Syrian Kuriz also known as Nasrani Menorah or the Mar Thoma sliva The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people are an ethnic group from Kerala, South India. ... This box:      The Saint Thomas Christians are a group of Christians from the Malabar coast (now Kerala) in South India, who follow Syriac Christianity. ... The Throne of St. ... The Nasrani Menorah also known as the Mar Thoma sliba Knanaya (Heb:קנאים, Ar:قينان), literally meaning Knai people, are an endagamous Jewish people from Kerala, India. ...
Events
Synod of Diamper Coonan Cross Oath Goa Inquisition Synod of Diamper - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... // The Coonan Cross Oath was taken in 1653,[1] by a group of Saint Thomas Christians, enraged by the persecution of their Church by the Portuguese colonials and Jesuit missionaries who sought to bring it under Portuguese Padroado or Propaganda Fide , swore the Coonan Cross Oath, vowing that neither they... St. ...
People
St Thomas St Francis Xavier Mother Teresa Reginald Heber Blessed Kuriakose Chavara Henry Martyn‎ Bishop Cotton‎ William Carey Anthony Norris Groves Hugh Findlay Charles Freer Andrews Sister Alphonsa Parumala Thirumeni Saint Francis Xavier (Basque: San Frantzisko Xabierkoa; Spanish: San Francisco Javier; Portuguese: São Francisco Xavier; Chinese: 聖方濟各沙勿略) (7 April 1506 - 2 December 1552) was a Spanish pioneering Roman Catholic Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order). ... Mother Teresa (born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu IPA: ) (August 26, 1910 – September 5, 1997) was a Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work. ... Reginald Heber Reginald Heber (April 21, 1783 - April 3, 1826) was an Church of England bishop, now remembered chiefly as a hymn-writer. ... Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara was the co-founder and first prior-general of the Congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate and of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Mother of Carmel. ... Henry Martyn (February 18, 1781 - October 6, 1812), English missionary to India, was born at Truro, Cornwall. ... George Edward Lynch Cotton (October 29, 1813–October 6, 1866) was an English educator and churchman. ... William Carey (August 17, 1761 – June 9, 1834) was an English missionary and Baptist minister, known as the father of modern missions. ... Anthony Norris Groves (February 1, 1795 - May 20, 1853), has been described as the father of faith missions. He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, now the capital of Iraq, and later in southern India. ... Hugh Findlay, born in 1822 in New Milns, Ayrshire, Scotland, was one of the first two Mormon missionaries to enter India. ... Charles Freer Andrews (1871 - 1940) was an English priest who admired the philosophy of Mohandas Gandhi and worked with him in the Indian civil rights struggle in South Africa and in the Indian Independence Movement. ... Blessed Alphonsa Muttathupadathu Blessed Alphonsa Muttathupadathu (August 19, 1910–July 28, 1946) was born Anna Muttathupadathu in Kudamaloor, a rural village near Kottayam (Kerala, India) to Joseph and Mary Muttathupadathu. ... St. ...
Churches
Chaldean Syrian Church Church of North India Church of South India Indian Brethren Indian Pentecostal Church Jacobite Syrian Church Malabar Independent Church Mar Thoma Church Orthodox Syrian Church Roman Catholic Church St. Thomas Evangelical Church Syro-Malankara Catholic Church Syro-Malabar Catholic Church Advent Christian Conference Anglican Church of India Apatani Christian Fellowship Apostolic Christian Assembly Apostolic Church of Pentecost Apostolic Fellowship Tabernacle Apostolic Pentecostal Church Armenian Apostolic Church Asia Evangelistic Fellowship Assam Baptist Convention Assemblies of Christ Church Assemblies of God Assemblies of Jesus Christ Assembly Hall Churches Association of Vineyard Churches... Chaldean Syrian Church is the name used for the Assyrian Church of the East in India. ... The Church of North India has united various denominations and missions and orders in India. ... CSI St. ... The Indian Brethren is a Christian religious movement, a constituent of the larger group known as the Plymouth Brethren. ... The Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) is the largest indigenous Pentecostal movement in India, with its headquarters at Hebron, Kumbanad, Kerala-689547 India. ... The Malabar Independent Syrian Church (Thozhiyur Sabha) is a Church of Syriac Orthodox tradition in South India. ... On the south western coast of India, lies a small state known as Kerala. ... The Indian Orthodox Church (also known as the Malankara Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of the East, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Orthodox Syrian Church of the East), is a prominent member of the Oriental Orthodox Church family. ... The Roman Catholic Church in India is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. ... St. ... The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is a Major Archepiscopal sui iuris Eastern Rite Roman Catholic Church in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, with historical links to the Syrian Catholic Church. ... Syro-Malabar Church Official website The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is a Major Archiepiscopal Church in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. ...
Christianity in India Portal  This box: view • talk • edit

St.Thomas depicted on a 1972 Indian postage stamp.

Eusebius of Caesarea (Historia Ecclesiastica, III.1) quotes Origen (died mid-3rd century) as having stated that Thomas was the apostle to the Parthians, but Thomas is better known as the missionary to India through the Acts of Thomas, written ca 200. In Edessa, where his remains were venerated, the poet Ephrem the Syrian (died 373) wrote a hymn in which the Devil cries, This photograph was taken by me in December 2004. ... Image File history File links St_thomas_apostle. ... Image File history File links St_thomas_apostle. ... A selection of Hong Kong postage stamps A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. ... Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (c. ... Origen Origen (Greek: ÅŒrigénÄ“s, 185–ca. ... Parthia at its greatest extent under Mithridates II (123–88 BC) Capital Ctesiphon, Ecbatana Government Monarchy [[Category:Former monarchies}}|Parthia, 247 BC]] History  - Established 247 BC  - Disestablished 220 AD Parthian votive relief. ... The early 3rd century text called Acts of Thomas is arguably the most Gnostic of the New Testament apocrypha, portraying Christ as the Heavenly Redeemer, independent of and beyond creation, who can free souls from the darkness of the world. ... The heritage of Roman Edessa survives today in these columns at the site of Urfa Castle, dominating the skyline of the modern city of Åžanlı Urfa. ... Ephrem the Syrian (Syriac: , ;Greek: ; Latin: Ephraem Syrus; 306–373) was a deacon, prolific Syriac language hymn writer and theologian of the 4th century. ...

...Into what land shall I fly from the just?

I stirred up Death the Apostles to slay, that by their death I might escape their blows.

But harder still am I now stricken: the Apostle I slew in India has overtaken me in Edessa; here and there he is all himself.

There went I, and there was he: here and there to my grief I find him. —quoted in Medlycott 1905, ch. ii.

A long public tradition in the church at Edessa honoring Thomas as the Apostle of India resulted in several surviving hymns that are attributed to Ephrem, copied in codices of the 8th and 9th centuries. References in the hymns preserve the tradition that Thomas' bones were brought from India to Edessa by a merchant, and that the relics worked miracles both in India and at Edessa. A pontiff assigned his feast day and a king and a queen erected his shrine. The Thomas traditions became embodied in Syriac liturgy, thus they were universally credited by the Christian community there. There is also a legend that Thomas had met the Biblical Magi on his way to India. Three Kings, or Three Wise Men redirects here. ...

The indigenous church of Kerala State, India has a tradition that St. Thomas sailed there to spread the Christian faith. He is said to have landed at a small village, at that time a port, named Palayoor, near Guruvayoor, which was a priestly community at that time. He left Palayoor in AD 52 for southern Kerala State, where he established the Ezharappallikal, or "Seven and Half Churches". These churches are at Kodungallur, Kollam, Niranam, Nilackal (Chayal), Kokkamangalam, Kottakkayal (Paravoor), Palayoor (Chattukulangara) and Thiruvithamkode (Travancore) - the half church. (See also Saint Thomas of Mylapur).^{[citation needed]} , Kerala ( ; Malayalam: കേരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... Palayoor/Palayur is a part of Thrissur district and is located on the west coast of Kerala, in India. ... Guruvayoor Temple Entrance Guruvayoor is a small town in the Trissur district of Kerala, south India. ... This article is about the year 52. ... , “Cranganore” redirects here. ... , For the district with the same name, see Kollam District. ... Niranam is a small village in Southern part of Kerala in India. ... Kokkamangalam is a village in Alappuzha district of Kerala state, south India. ... , This article is about a town in Ernakulam district. ... Palayoor/Palayur is a part of Thrissur district and is located on the west coast of Kerala, in India. ... Flag for former princely state of Travancore Travancore or Thiruvithaamkoor (Malayalam: തിരുവിതാങ്കൂര്‍ [], തിരുവിതാംകൂര്‍ [], തിരുവിതാങ്കോട് []) was a princely state in India with its capital at Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram). ... Saint Thomas of Mylapore, or in Portuguese São Tomé de Meliapore, in Latin Sancti Thomae de Meliapor), was a suffragan to the primatial See of Goa in the East Indies. ...

It has been argued that as an Apostle of the 'Circumcision' his first converts would have been Jews who were settled there, and that the possibility of him converting Hindus into Christianity is unlikely, though phenotypes and overall Dravidian culture among the community suggest otherwise. Some Saint Thomas Christians believe that orthodox Brahmins like Namboodiris were converted by Saint Thomas into Christianity based upon attempts by the St Thomas Christians to enter the caste system of India, though Brahmin conversion is disputed by historians who suggest that this was claimed later by Christian communities to obtain special caste status among the Hindu community, as St Thomas was believed to have arrived in Kerala at 52 AD, whereas Nambudiris arrived in Kerala in the 7th century. These Saint Thomas Christians also grew through integration of Jewish Christian immigrants of the 4th century AD led by Thomas of Cana and later by Mar Sapro in the 8th century AD. As Judeo-Christian communities are said not to have integrated with other faith communities, especially those of the hyper orthodox Namboodhiri Brahmins of Malabar, it has been argued that this tradition is unlikely. Dravidian may refer to: Dravidian languages, including the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada languages spoken especially in southern India and Sri Lanka. ... This box:      The Saint Thomas Christians are a group of Christians from the Malabar coast (now Kerala) in South India, who follow Syriac Christianity. ... The Sanskrit word denotes the scholar/teacher, priest, caste, class (), or tribe, that has been traditionally enjoined to live a life of learning, teaching and non-possessivenes . ... The Namboothiris are the Brahmins of Kerala. ...

Visit to Gondophares

The Acts of Thomas describes in chapter 17 Thomas' visit to king Gondophares in northern India; chapters 2 and 3 depict him as embarking on a sea voyage to India, thus connecting Thomas to the west coast of India. Though the Acts are usually considered to be moral entertainments of a legendary nature, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is a surviving roughly contemporary guide to the routes commonly being used for navigating the Arabian Sea. At the times the Acts were being composed, and until the discovery of his coins in the region of Kabul and the Punjab, there was no reason to suppose that a king named "Gondophares" had ever really existed.^{[citation needed]} The reign of Gondophares, established by a votive inscription of his 26th regnal year that was unknown until 1872, commenced in AD 21, so he was in fact reigning as late as AD 47. "It is impossible to resist the conclusion that the writer of the Acts must have had information based on contemporary history. For at no later date could a forger or legendary writer have known the name." (Medlycott 1905). The early 3rd century text called Acts of Thomas is arguably the most Gnostic of the New Testament apocrypha, portraying Christ as the Heavenly Redeemer, independent of and beyond creation, who can free souls from the darkness of the world. ... Gondophares (Parthian: Vindapharna, lit. ... Names, routes and locations of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. ... The Arabian Sea (Arabic: بحر العرب; transliterated: Bahr al-Arab) is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui, the north-east point of Somalia... , This article is about the Indian state of Punjab. ...

Return of the Relics

In 232 the relics of the Apostle Thomas are said to have been returned by an Indian king and brought back from India to the city of Edessa, Mesopotamia, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written. The Indian king is named as "Mazdai" in Syriac sources, "Misdeos" and "Misdeus" in Greek and Latin sources respectively, which has been connected to the "Bazdeo" on the Kushan coinage of Vasudeva I, the transition between "M" and "B" being a current one in Classical sources for Indian names.^[20] The martyrologist Rabban Sliba dedicated a special day to both the Indian king, his family, and St Thomas: Events Relics of St. ... The heritage of Roman Edessa survives today in these columns at the site of Urfa Castle, dominating the skyline of the modern city of Şanlı Urfa. ... Gold coin of Vasudeva I. Obv: Vasudeva in tall helmet, holding a scepter, and making an offering over an altar. ...

"Coronatio Thomae apostoli et Misdeus rex Indiae, Johannes eus filius huisque mater Tertia" ("Coronation of Thomas the Apostole, and Misdeus king of India, together with his son Johannes (thought to be a latinization of Vizan) and his mother Tertia") Rabban Sliba^[21]

After a short stay in the Greek island of Chios, on September 6, 1258, the relics were transported to the West, and now rest in Ortona, Italy. Chios (IPA: )[2] (Greek: , alternative transliterations Khios and Hios) is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea seven kilometres (five miles) off the Turkish coast. ... Ortona is a coastal town and comune of Chieti province in the Italian region of Abruzzo, 42°21N 14°24E, 72 m (236 ft) above sea-level, with 22,700 inhabitants as of the 2003 census. ...

Indian Legacy

Main article: Christianity in India

According to tradition, the Indo-Parthian king Gondophares was proselitized by St Thomas, who continued on to southern India.

Southern India had maritime trade with the West since ancient times. Egyptian trade with India and Roman trade with India flourished in the first century AD. In AD 47, the Hippalus wind was discovered and this led to direct voyage from Aden to the South Western coast in 40 days. Muziris (Kodungallur) and Nelcyndis or Nelkanda (near Kollam) in South India, are mentioned as flourishing ports, in the writings of Pliny (23-79 AD). Pliny has given an accurate description of the route to India, the country of Cerebothra (the Cheras). Pliny has referred to the flourishing trade in spices, pearls, diamonds and silk between Rome and Southern India in the early centuries of the Christian era. Though the Cheras controlled Kodungallur port, Southern India belonged to the Pandyan Kingdom, that had sent embassies to the court of Augustus Caesar. Distribution of Christian population in different Indian states [1] Christianity is Indias third-largest religion, following Hinduism and Islam. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 598 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (991 × 993 pixel, file size: 517 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Coin of Gondophares. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 598 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (991 × 993 pixel, file size: 517 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Coin of Gondophares. ... Coin of Gondophares (20-50 AD), first king of the Indo-Parthians kingdom. ... Gondophares (Parthian: Vindapharna, lit. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Jude Thomas. ... Roman trade with India according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, 1st century CE. A Greco-Roman gladiator on a glass vessel, Begram, 2nd century AD Roman trade with India started around the beginning of the Common Era (CE) following the reign of Augustus and his conquest of Egypt... Hippalus was a Greek navigator who probably lived in the 1st century BCE. He is sometimes conjectured to have been the captain of the Greek explorer Eudoxus of Cyzicus ship. ... Muziris is a lost port city in the southern Indian state of Kerala, locally known as Vanchi, which was a major center of trade, especially pepper and other spices, with the Roman Empire from the 1st or 2nd century BCE to probably as late as 6th century CE. Large hoards...

According to tradition, St. Thomas landed in Kodungallur in AD 52, in the company of a Jewish merchant Hebban. There were Jewish colonies in Kodungallur since ancient times and Jews continue to reside in Kerala, tracing their ancient history. The Jewish Christians (or Nazareens) were supported from Mesopotamia and Persia, since ancient times. , “Cranganore” redirects here. ...

As recorded in the Travancore Manual, around 345 AD, Thomas Cana (Kona Thomas) merchant and missionary, visited the Malabar coast. He brought to Kodungallur a group of four hundred Christians from Bagdad, Nineveh and Jerusalem. Cheraman Perumal, the King, gave him grants of privileges. ^[22]

In 522 AD, Cosmos Indicopleustes visited the Malabar Coast. He is the first traveller who mentions Syrian Christians in Malabar. He mentions that in the town of 'Kalliana' (Quilon or Kollam), there is a bishop consecrated in Persia. There is a copper plate grant given to Iravi Korttan, a Christian of Kodungallur (Cranganore), by King Vira Raghava. The date is estimated to be around 744 AD. In 822 AD two Nestorian Persian Bishops Mar Sapor and Mar Peroz came to Malabar, to occupy their seats in Kollam and Kodungallur, to look after the local Syrian Christians (also known as St. Thomas Christians). Cosmos Indicopleustes, was a 6th century traveller, who made several voyages to India during the reign of emperor Justinian. ...

Shrine of Saint Thomas in Meliapore, 18th century print.

In the 13th century, Marco Polo, who visited South Indian cities of Kayal in the East Coast and Kollam (Quilon), mentioned in his writings about the Syrian Christians of Quilon and also about the Thomas tomb on the East Coast, near Kayal, confirming the tradition that St Thomas died in South India. Marco Polo (September 15, 1254[1] – January 9, 1324 at earliest but no later than June 1325[2]) was a Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione (The Million or The Travels of Marco Polo). ... , For the district with the same name, see Kollam District. ...

Marco Polo is the first writer to identify St. Thomas with South India and a seashore tomb in an unnamed town ("a certain little town") on the East Coast.^[23] All previous accounts of Thomas had followed the Acts of Thomas and had the apostle buried in the desert country of the Zoroastrian king Mazdai (Misdaeus), in a royal tomb on a mountain containing the sepulchers of ancient Persian kings (from which the relics were stolen and returned to Mesopotamia).^[24] Marco Polo also states in the Milione that St. Thomas was a Muslim saint from Nubia and that he had been killed by accident by a native pagan hunting peacocks. Therefore, the Muslim St. Thomas ("Thuma" or "Thawwama" in Arabic, meaning "born twin" as does "Thoma" and "Thama" in Syriac and "Didymus" in Greek) was a victim not a martyr, and this story by Marco Polo only adds to the tangled mass of fables concerning his apostolate and his end.^[25]

Marco Polo's story revolutionized the St. Thomas legend in Europe, and the unidentified town on the East Coast, believed to contain his bones in a seashore tomb, was soon identified with the ancient pilgrimage town of Mailapur (Mylapore) with its busy international port and great Shiva temple built on a high point on the sea beach.^[26] However, it can be positively stated that Marco Polo did not visit the East Coast of India (Coromandel Coast) at any time in his travels.^[27] And Friar Odoric of Pordenone who visited Mylapore in 1322, did not find a St. Thomas tomb or church on the beach but describes a Hindu temple filled with idols.^[28]

Marco Polo's testimony for St. Thomas in South India is important to note in detail because it has been used by Thomas in South India protagonists, from the 16th century Portuguese in Mylapore to Bishops Medleycott and Arulappa in their fictionalized St. Thomas histories, to Christian historiographers working today, as positive proof that St. Thomas lived and died in South India. But Marco Polo's St. Thomas stories in the Milione have no historical veracity at all and have been discredited. They are only a collection of pious tales picked up in the bazaars of Ceylon and Quilon - if, indeed, Marco Polo ever visited these places, which is now in doubt.^[29]

While exploring the Malabar coast of Kerala, South India after Vasco da Gama's arrival in Calicut in 1498, the Portuguese encountered Christians in South Western India, who traced their foundations to Thomas. However, the Catholic Portuguese did not accept the legitimacy of local Malabar traditions, and they began to impose Roman Catholic practices upon the Saint Thomas Christians. The Udayamperoor Synod (Synod of Diamper) in 1599, was an attempt by the Portuguese, to Latinize the local Christian rites. In 1653, the Syrian Christians split from the Latin Church controlled by the Pope of Rome. The Orthodox faction remained fully within the various Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian traditions. During the British rule in India, Protestantism flourished among the Christians. [Land of uncivilised] Bekal Fort Beach, Kerala Malabar (Malayalam: മലബാര്‍ ) is a region of southern India, lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, and derived from the Malayalam word Mala mean Hill and Persian word Bar means Kingdom, and is same as the word meaning of Malayalam. ... , Kerala ( ; Malayalam: കേരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Synod of Diamper - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      The term... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Assyrian Church of the East...

On the isolated island of Socotra south of Yemen in the Arabian Sea, a community of Christians had been attested as early as ca. 354 by Philostorgius, the Arian Church historian, in his narrative of the mission of Bishop Theophilus to the Homeritae (Medleycott), and was confirmed by medieval Arab sources. They survived to be documented in 1542 by Saint Francis Xavier, whom they informed that their ancestors had been evangelized by Thomas (Medlycott 1905, ch. ii). Francis Xavier was careful to station four Jesuits to guide the faithful in Socotra into orthodoxy (letter, April 15, 1549). Socotra had been briefly garrisoned by Albuquerque, but after the Mahra sultans from the Horn of Africa conquered Socotra in 1511 almost all traces of the Thomas Christian community in Socotra had been utterly effaced. Map of the Socotra archipelago Socotra or Soqotra (Arabic سقطرى ; ) is a small archipelago of four islands and islets in the Indian Ocean off the coast of the Horm Africa some 350 km south of the Arabian peninsula. ... The Arabian Sea (Arabic: بحر العرب; transliterated: Bahr al-Arab) is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui, the north-east point of Somalia... Philostorgius (364?-?) was a scholar who subscribed to Arianism, a heresy that questioned the Trinitarian account of the relationship between God the Father and Christ. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Athanasius · Augustine · Constantine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Arminius · Calvin · Luther · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box... Saint Francis Xavier (Basque: San Frantzisko Xabierkoa; Spanish: San Francisco Javier; Portuguese: São Francisco Xavier; Chinese: 聖方濟各沙勿略) (7 April 1506 - 2 December 1552) was a Spanish pioneering Roman Catholic Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order). ... Afonso de Albuquerque (or Afonso dAlbuquerque - disused) (pronounced ) (treated with a Don by some although his birth didnt grant him that treatment) (1453, Alhandra - Goa, December 16, 1515) was a Portuguese fidalgo, or nobleman, a naval general officer whose military and administrative activities conquered and established the Portuguese... Map of the Protectorate of South Arabia in 1965 Map of contemporary Yemen showing Al Mahrah governorate. ... The Horn of Africa. ...

Though the mortal remains of Thomas, were removed to Edessa in the 3rd century from India, and from Edessa to Italy, an attempt was made by the Portuguese in the 16th century, to trace the original tomb of Thomas. Finally they settled on Mylapore near Madras (Chennai), as the site where Thomas was martyred.

Near Chennai (formerly Madras) in India stands a small hillock called St. Thomas Mount, where the Apostle is said to have been killed in 72 AD (exact year not established). Also to be found in Chennai is the Dioceses of Saint Thomas of Mylapore to which his mortal remains were supposedly transferred. Madras redirects here. ... Madras refers to: the Indian city of Chennai, formerly known as Madras, the former Indian state, now known as Tamil Nadu (Plural of Madra): Ancient people of Iranian affinites, who lived in northwest Panjab in the Uttarapatha division of ancient India. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article is about the year 72. ... The Diocese of Saint Thomas of Mylapore, or in Portuguese São Tomé de Meliapore, in Latin Sancti Thomae de Meliapor), was a suffragan diocese to the primatial See of Goa in the East Indies. ...

Pope Benedict XVI's controversial statements

On September 27th 2006, Pope Benedict XVI gave out a speech in the Vatican in which he recalled an ancient tradition claiming that Thomas first evangelised Syria and Persia, then went on to Western India, from where Christianity also reached Southern India.^[30].^[31] Since this statement was perceived to be a direct violation of their religious beliefs, many Saint Thomas Christians in India condemned this statement.^[32]Later the Vatican amended the published text of the same speech with minor modifications owing to the anger expressed by the Saint Thomas Christians.^[33] Papal Arms of Pope Benedict XVI. The papal tiara was replaced with a bishops mitre, and pallium of the Pope was added beneath the coat of arms. ...

The Pope's original statement given out at St. Peter's, before it was amended on the Vatican website, reflected the geography of the Acts of Thomas, i.e. Syria, Parthia (Persia/Iran) and Gandhara (Western India/Pakistan). There is no historical evidence to support the tradition that St. Thomas came to South India, and on Nov. 13, 1952 Vatican officials sent a message to Kerala Christians stating that the landing of St. Thomas at Cranganore on Nov. 21, 52 A.D. was "unverified". ^[34]

St. Thomas Christians

Main article: Saint Thomas Christians

Thomasine Christianity is found in the southern Indian state of Kerala. These churches of Malabar trace their roots back to St. Thomas the Apostle who according to history and local tradition arrived along the Malabar Coast in the year A.D. 52. In the Syriac tradition, St. Thomas is referred to as Mar Thoma Sleeha which translate roughly as Lord/Saint Thomas the Apostle. This box:      The Saint Thomas Christians are a group of Christians from the Malabar coast (now Kerala) in South India, who follow Syriac Christianity. ...

St Thomas Christians had a unique identity till the arrival of Portuguese in India, who converted St. Thomas Christians to the Catholic Church. As a result of this foreign intervention into the culture there are several present day St. Thomas churches, primarily in the Catholic and Oriental Orthodox Traditions.

The largest church in terms of membership is the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, a major archepiscopal church in communion with the Bishop of Rome with a membership approaching four million adherents. The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is the newest sui iuris church in the Catholic communion with five hundred thousand (500,000) members. Syro-Malabar Church Official website The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is a Major Archiepiscopal Church in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. ... The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is a Major Archepiscopal sui iuris Eastern Rite Roman Catholic Church in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, with historical links to the Syrian Catholic Church. ...

The Oriental Orthodox church with its rich history in trampled under continued litigation between two parties owing their allegiance to separate primates. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (also known as the Indian Orthodox Church) views itself as an autocephlous Orthodox Church with His Holiness, the Catholicos of the East as their head while, the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church has a local head in the person of His Beatitude, the Catholicos of India. However, the Catholicos of India is still subject to the authority of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. This article describes different viewpoints about the history and tradition associated with the ecclesiastical position called Catholicos of the East, a title used by Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches to denote the head of a Church or a dignitary of the highest order. ... The Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes called Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, is a branch of the Syriac Orthodox Church. ... Public consecration of Thomas Mar Dionysius as His Beatitude Baselious Thomas I, Catholicose of India (seated) by the Patriarch of Antioch, H.H. Ignatious Zakka I Iwas, and the universal episcopal synod. ... The Patriarch of Antioch is the head of the Syriac Orthodox Church. ...

Another important church in Malankara is the Mar Thoma Church (full name is the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church). The church claims membership of 900,000. The Mar Thoma Church is unique in a sense since it is an Eastern Church with reformed doctrines. On the south western coast of India, lies a small state known as Kerala. ...

Thomas other accounts

To the Portuguese and Spanish conquerors and clerics, the Americas were simply "The Indies" for most of the sixteenth century.The improbable suggestion that St. Thomas preached in America ^[35] is based upon a misunderstanding of the text of the Acts of Apostles ^[36] The Indies, on the display globe of the Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois The Indies or East Indies (or East India) is a term used to describe lands of South and Southeast Asia, occupying all of the former British India, the present Indian Union, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Maldives... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...

Various Eastern Churches claim that St. Thomas personally brought Christianity to China and Japan in AD 64 and 70 respectively. ^[37] July 18 - Great fire of Rome: A fire began to burn in the merchant area of Rome and soon burned completely out of control while Emperor Nero allegedly played his lyre and sang while watching the blaze from a safe distance, although there is no hard evidence to support this... This article is about the year 70. ...

Writings Attributed to Thomas

Russian Orthodox icon of St. Thomas the Apostle, with scroll, 18th century (Iconostasis of Transfiguration church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia).

"Let none read the gospel according to Thomas, for it is the work, not of one of the twelve apostles, but of one of Mani's three wicked disciples."

—Cyril of Jerusalem, Cathechesis V (4th century)

In the first two centuries of the Christian era, a number of writings were circulated, which claimed the authority of Thomas, some of them said, perhaps too loosely, to be espousing a Gnostic doctrine, as Cyril was suggesting. It is unclear now why Thomas was seen as an authority for doctrine, although this belief is documented in Gnostic groups as early as the Pistis Sophia (ca AD 250 - 300) which states that the "three witnesses" committing to writing "all of his words" are Thomas, along with Philip and Matthew. In that Gnostic work, Mary Magdalene (one of the disciples) says: This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... The Russian Orthodox Church (Русская Православная церковь) is that body of Christians who are united under the Patriarch of Moscow, who in turn is in communion with the other patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... This article is about the religious artifacts. ... 17th-century iconostasis of Prophet Elias church, Yaroslavl. ... The word Transfiguration means a changing of appearance or form. ... Saint Basils Cathedral in Moscow is one of the most famous Orthodox churches An Orthodox church as a church building of the Eastern Orthodoxy has a distinct, recognizable style among church architectures. ... Wooden miracle in Kizhi. ... This article concerns the buildings occupied by monastics. ... Map showing the parts Karelia is traditionally divided into. ... Mani (in Persian: مانی, Syriac: ) was born of Iranian (Parthian) parentage in Babylon, Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) which was a part of Persian Empire about 210-276 CE. He was a religious preacher and the founder of Manichaeism, an ancient Persian gnostic religion that was once prolific but is now extinct. ... Cyril of Jerusalem was a distinguished theologian of the early Church ( 315 - 386). ... Gnosticism is a blanket term for various religions and sects most prominent in the first few centuries A.D. General characteristics The word gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special, hidden mysticism (esoteric knowledge) that only a few possess. ... The important Gnostic text, the Pistis Sophia, in five copies, which scholars date c. ... For other uses, see Saint Philip. ... Matthew the Evangelist (מתי, Gift of the LORD, Standard Hebrew and Tiberian Hebrew: Mattay; Septuagint Greek: Ματθαίος, Matthaios), most often called Saint Matthew, is an important Christian figure, and one of Jesus Twelve Apostles. ...

"Now at this time, my Lord, hear, so that I speak openly, for thou hast said to us 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear:' Concerning the word which thou didst say to Philip: 'Thou and Thomas and Matthew are the three to whom it has been given… to write every word of the Kingdom of the Light, and to bear witness to them'; hear now that I give the interpretation of these words. It is this which thy light-power once prophesied through Moses: 'Through two and three witnesses everything will be established. The three witnesses are Philip and Thomas and Matthew" ( —Pistis Sophia 1:43)

An early, non-Gnostic tradition may lie behind this statement, which also emphasizes the primacy of the Gospel of Matthew in its Aramaic form, over the other canonical three. The Gospel of Matthew (literally, according to Matthew; Greek, Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον, Kata Maththaion or Kata Matthaion) is a synoptic gospel in the New Testament, one of four canonical gospels. ... Aramaic is a Semitic language with a four-thousand year history. ...

Besides the Acts of Thomas there was a widely circulated Infancy Gospel of Thomas probably written in the later 2nd century, and probably also in Syria, which relates the miraculous events and prodigies of Jesus' boyhood. This is the document which tells for the first time the familiar legend of the twelve sparrows which Jesus, at the age of five, fashioned from clay on the Sabbath day, which took wing and flew away. The earliest manuscript of this work is a sixth century one in Syriac. This gospel was first referred to by Irenaeus; Ron Cameron notes: "In his citation, Irenaeus first quotes a non-canonical story that circulated about the childhood of Jesus and then goes directly on to quote a passage from the infancy narrative of the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:49). Since the Infancy Gospel of Thomas records both of these stories, in relative close proximity to one another, it is possible that the apocryphal writing cited by Irenaeus is, in fact, what is now known as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Because of the complexities of the manuscript tradition, however, there is no certainty as to when the stories of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas began to be written down." The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is a non-canonical text that was part of a popular genre, aretalogy, of the 2nd and 3rd centuries— a miracle literature of Infancy gospels that was both entertaining and inspirational, written to satisfy a hunger for more miraculous and anecdotal stories of the childhood... Syriac ( Suryāyā) is an Eastern Aramaic language that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. ... Saint Irenaeus (Greek: Ειρηναίος), (b. ...

The best known in modern times of these documents is the "sayings" document that is being called the Gospel of Thomas, a noncanonical work which some scholars believe may actually predate the writing of the Biblical gospels themselves.^[38] The opening line claims it is the work of "Didymos Judas Thomas" - who has been identified with Thomas. This work was discovered in a Coptic translation in 1945 at the Egyptian village of Nag Hammadi, near the site of the monastery of Chenoboskion. Once the Coptic text was published, scholars recognized that an earlier Greek translation had been published from fragments of papyrus found at Oxyrhynchus in the 1890s. The Gospel of Thomas (full name The Gospel According to Thomas (in Coptic, p. ... The Coptic language is a direct descendant of the ancient Egyptian language which was once written in Egyptian hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic scripts. ... The town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt Nag Hammâdi (Arabic نجع حمادي; transliterated: Naj Hammādi) (26°03′N 32°15′E), is a town in the middle of Egypt, called Chenoboskion in classical antiquity, about 80 kilometres north-west of Luxor with some 30,000 citizens. ... For other uses, see Papyrus (disambiguation). ... Oxyrhynchus (Greek: Οξύρυγχος; sharp-nosed; ancient Egyptian Per-Medjed; modern Egyptian Arabic el-Bahnasa) is an archaeological site in Egypt, considered one of the most important ever discovered. ...

See also

• Saint Thomas of Mylapur
• Saint Thomas Christians
• São Tomé
• Doubting Thomas

Saint Thomas of Mylapore, or in Portuguese São Tomé de Meliapore, in Latin Sancti Thomae de Meliapor), was a suffragan to the primatial See of Goa in the East Indies. ... This box:      The Saint Thomas Christians are a group of Christians from the Malabar coast (now Kerala) in South India, who follow Syriac Christianity. ... São Tomé (population 53,300 in 2003) is the capital city of São Tomé and Príncipe and is by far the nations largest town. ... The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio. ...

Notes

Jacques Paul Migne (25 October 1800 - 25 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely-distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias and the texts of the Church Fathers. ... The Patrologia Graeca (or Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca) is an edited collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers in the Greek language in 161 volumes plus a separate index, produced in 1857–1866 by J.P. Migne. ...

External links

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Saint Thomas

• FAQ on St Thomas tradition among Syrian Christians of Kerala
• Official site of Malayattoor Church established by St.Thomas in Kerala, India.
• Mylapore santhomechurch built over the tomb of St. Thomas
• www.SyroMalabar.com The Syro-Malabar Church, All 26 Dioceses
• St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church - Greater Washington
• A.E. Medlycott, India and the Apostle Thomas, London 1905 (e-text)
• Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Thomas the Apostle
• St. Thomas - Apostle to India
• Herbert Christian Merillat, "The Gnostic Apostle Thomas", 1997
• Niranam Valiyapally and St. Thomas
• St.Thomas Christian History and Culture
• The Nasrani Syrian Christians Network
• Thomasine Church
• The Myth of Saint Thomas and the Mylapore Shiva Temple
• Official Site of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church
• Pope no longer doubts Thomas reached India
• Passages to India
• Orthodox Church Portal
• Indian Orthodox Church
• Holy, Glorious Apostle Thomas Orthodox icon and synaxarion for October 6
• Apostle Thomas—Synaxis of the Holy Apostles Orthodox icon and synaxarion for June 30
• Icon of the Mother of God Arapet (Arabian) Orthodox icon and synaxarion for September 6